Saving Grace
by TealcIsTheBomb
Summary: AU:Sequel to Hourglass Henry, Gus, and Shawn are in overprotective mode. Juliet wants to be left alone and Carlton has just gone MIA. But when the bodies of young women begin washing ashore the gang gets back together to get another killer.
1. Chapter 1

**STOP! If you haven't read _Hourglass_ you will have no idea what is going on here. That said if you have enjoy the sequel. **

Juliet looked up from her desk for perhaps the twentieth time in the last hour at Shawn who was still watching her intently. "_What?" _Shawn just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his IPhone. Feeling the urge she went to get up to go to the restroom but was halted when Henry materialized out of nowhere.

"Juliet do you need something? Tea? Water? A snack? Whatever it is I can get it for you." Juliet rubbed at her temples which for some reason made Shawn jump in.

"Do you need something for your head? Is it a bad? Cause if it is we can take you to the doctor and get you checked out." And to make matters worse Gus decided it was time to walk into the bullpen.

"Juliet if the headache has been going on for a while it could be pre-eclampsia you definitely need to go to the doctor if it is because if it progresses you can have seizures." She looked at the three men who were standing all around her and felt a bit remorseful for what she was about to do. "Perhaps you should go on medical leave and stay in bed till the baby is born." A _tiny_ bit remorseful.

"STOP!" Every officer in the bullpen froze and looked at her. She stood up as quickly as she could. "I understand you're worried about me but Henry." The older man looked shocked he was being directed some of the anger. "I can get things for myself, in fact, the doctor told me to make sure I get some exercise in. Gus _please_ stop spouting off all the things that can go wrong. You really think I need the added worry?" The man looked sheepish as he shook his head and looked down at his feet. "And Shawn." She smiled at her fiancé and grabbing one of his hands she placed it on her small baby bump. "I love you so very much and I know just how worried you are about me and the baby. But you _need_ to stop before you drive me crazy, _all of you._" The three men looked like beat puppies. "Now if you don't mind my bladder is currently being used as punching bag and it is awfully full." She dropped Shawn's hand and quickly zigzagged past the snickering officers to the restroom.

"What's gotten into _her_?" Gus and Shawn shrugged their shoulders as they helped Henry get some bottled water and healthy snacks to put on Juliet's desk. "Just in case." The three men nodded and went back to their previous endeavors.

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After Carlton had arrived at Grace's apartment at seven in the morning he expected a tongue lashing when the clearly sleep deprived agent answered the door but instead she opened the door more and threw a pillow and blanket at him. Making a bed out of the couch he lay down and realized how tired he really was and soon was drifting off to the land of nod.

A gut-wrenching scream woke him up about three hours later and on auto pilot he pulled his weapon and was entering Grace's bedroom before his mind registered being awake. Grace was curled up in an impossibly small ball in the corner of her room screaming and sobbing. Carlton put his gun down on her dresser and approached her carefully. "_Grace?"_ He eyes were wild and unfocused as she looked around at his words. He crouched down in front of her, reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. Instead of screaming of recoiling more Grace lashed out knocking Carlton flat on his back and before he could react he felt the cold metal of pistol under his chin.

"_Don't you fucking move."_ Carlton raised his hands in a placating matter and watched as Grace's eyes focused and became less wild.

"_Grace_. It's me, _Carlton_. Remember you let me in this morning." The gun was taken away from Carlton's chin and he heard her put the hammer back down and flip the safety.

"_Carlton?"_ Then her face crumbled and the tears began. "_Oh god. I almost shot you!"_ Slowly she stood and walked over to her dresser where she put her gun. Carlton stood and could see how badly she was shaking. "I was back in that shed and..._and..._"

"Grace it's alright. How about you sit down and make sure you didn't rip any stiches." He guided her to the bed and after she plopped down he started with her head and worked his way down. Several bruises were turning yellow and the cuts were already healed on her face, her right arm was still in a cast to the elbow, he lifted her shirt up a bit and checked the side that the ice pick had been stabbed in, her abdomen was one giant mess of bruising and a gnarled scar where acid was thrown on in. There were other bruises and cuts but they were minor compared to that scar he quickly pulled her shirt back down knowing how embarrassed she was of it. "Everything looks Ok." He sat down next to her in the bed and grabbed her left hand. "You want to talk about it?" She shook her head vehemently, sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

"I just want to forget, you know?" Carlton nodded and despite her closed eyes Grace knew he was doing just that. "I haven't been able to sleep more than three hours a night. I am just so _freaking_ tired." She opened her eyes and saw his eyes boring into her soul. Carlton thought she was sleep deprived but as he studied her he realized just how much. The dark circles under her eyes looked like bruises, she was still shaky and her eyes were so blood shot they looked mostly red. With his other hand he brushed his knuckles across her cheek again she sighed and closed her eyes just reveling in his touch. He stood, pulled back her blanket and tucked her in when she lay down.

"I'll be here to protect you _I promise_." She nodded and he went to leave the room.

"Don't go." He froze in the door frame, thought about it for about 2.3 seconds and found himself under her covers on the other side of the bed. Slowly they both drifted off to sleep.

Carlton wasn't sure how long she had slept this time but she woke up the same was she had earlier, _screaming_. He shot up like a bullet and grabbed hold of her before she got out of the bed. "_I gotcha Grace. I'm here._" He felt her relax to his touch and she rolled over to face him.

"_Sorry."_ He just shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'no biggie' and scooted closer to her to gently put an arm around her waist. "I-I really don't cuddle. Never have." Grace's eyes started to drift shut and her words were becoming more mumbled.

"_Me either. Ex-wife hated that."_ Carlton's eyes were already closed and his voice was extremely thick with sleep. "_Always felt like I was being smothered."_

_"Me too."_ The bedroom was soon filled with the sound of regular breathing as they slept. Grace didn't wake up screaming for the rest of the day as her dreams turned from hammers and ice picks to dark hair, blue eyes, and the subtle smell of old spice.


	2. Chapter 2

The light came on and she blinked against the sudden brightness. Breathing heavily she looked around the room with scared eyes when the sound of footsteps reached her ears she began to whimper around the duct tape. The cause of her fear stopped just outside the plexiglass door.

"I've grown tired of you." He opened the door and unlocked the chain that held her to the wall. He dragged her across the floor as she tried futilely to kick at her captor. For the first time in five days she was allowed to see outside the night sky and the sea air greeted her as he picked her up through the door and slammed her down on the deck of the boat. She began to cry heavily. "Oh no need for that." He bent over and ripped the tape off her lips.

"Pl-please just-just let me go. I-I won't tell anybody. _Please." _He smirked at her begging slowly he unlocked the chains that were holding her and helped her to stand.

"Of course I'm going to let you go. What kind of person would I be if I didn't." She felt several things at once; relief, freedom, fear, and a twinge of happiness. She looked all around and this was when she realized that they were nowhere near the docks or land. Her movement became frantic and she was about to jump off the side of the boat when the night air was filled with a resounding crack and she crumbled to a heap. "Poor baby. You're free now." He picked up the girl and threw her into the ocean. "Goodbye dear Mary." Lovingly he cleaned the blood and hair from the wrench and went back to the bridge to point his boat back toward the docks.

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Grace woke up with a jerk but this time it wasn't because of nightmare it was because of the loud earth shaking snore her bed mate just released. "_Carlton!" _They were deeply entwined and she was afraid of hitting him with her cast if she tried to get out from the tangle. "Carlton!" His head jerked and his eyes snapped open Grace smiled at the surprised look in his eyes.

"What time is it?" They stretched and untangled from each other looking at his watch he was thoroughly surprised. "Twelve O' clock. I haven't slept to noon in like twenty years." Grace looked at him with a confused look. "What?"

"First off you forgot to set your watch forward three hours so it's three and it's dark outside so I'm guessing not in the afternoon." Carlton sat up and looked around her room and saw it was, in fact, dark outside.

"_We slept fifteen hours straight!"_ He continued to stretch his achy muscles and watched as Grace got out of bed. "Is that mine?" She looked down at the shirt she was wearing and looked back at him.

"Well you are shirtless." Looking down he felt blush rise to his cheeks.

"_How?..." _Grace just shook her head and headed to the bathroom leaving Carlton to ponder over the shirt change up. When she came out Carlton became painfully aware of what fifteen hours of sleep does to the body. He jumped up and almost ran over Grace as he ran into the bathroom. He could hear her chuckling.

"I'm hungry and thirsty. I am going to make some food, how about you take a shower and changed." The door cracked and he saw his vanity bag peek in he grabbed it. He turned on the water and as he relaxed under the steam he remembered his dream from the night before.

"_Guess that wasn't a dream."_

Once he was done he quickly toweled off and remembered that he forgot his change of clothes so he grabbed Grace's robe instead. He was going to try and sneak to his suitcase and grabbed some clothes without Grace seeing him and he almost made it to the living room.

"Pink looks good on you." He looked up and saw Grace had peaked her head out of the kitchen and was trying poorly to hide her smirk. She pointed at him with a spatula. "That can wait come and get some grub." He looked down at her robe and despite how _badly_ he wanted to grab some sweats Grace was still standing there waiting for him. As he entered her kitchen the smell of pancakes and freshly brewed coffee reached his nose and his mouth instantly watered.

"Smells good." He sat down as Grace placed a stack and a cup in front of him. He watched Grace as she seemed to float around the kitchen getting her own ready and sit down across from him.

"Well dig in detective." In comfortable silence they ate and sipped their coffee. Just as Grace ate the last crumb of her plate Carlton cleaned up the plates and put them in the sink.

"Hey I figured out how you got my shirt on."

"How is that pray tell." Carlton couldn't help the snicker.

"_Pray tell?_" She shrugged her shoulders. " Any who I had a dream that you told me how much you loved my smell and I put my shirt on you so that you could always smell me."

"I had the same dream, well I guess it wasn't a dream."

"Guess not." Grace stood and started to scrub the pan she used. Carlton couldn't help himself he loved watching her as his shirt showed off little peaks of the boy shorts she was wearing. "_My god your gorgeous." _Grace spun around.

"What!" Carlton grimaced.

"I said that out loud?" Grace nodded. "Oh well I _meant it."_ He stood up and in three quick strides he was invading her space. "_Grace_ you are the most beautiful woman in the world." He pulled her close and she looked down and shook her head. "_Hey."_ He raised her chin with his hand. "_You are_." His lips met hers but she broke the kiss as he started to unbutton the shirt.

"Stop." He saw tears in her eyes. "I' m _far_ from gorgeous. I'm a freak. I mean look at me." He did. He saw the bruises the stitches and he knew what the scar looked like under his shirt. He knew just how much of her body was forever marked by that psychopath.

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world." He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her into the bedroom and managed to close the door with his foot before her lips made him loose all control.

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Juliet was really tired, she did after all have a very full day; she woke up at four, got engaged, worked, yelled at people, and it didn't help that the baby decided today to be a tumbler. "Uggh!" She threw her covers off and Shawn comically jumped up and fell off the bed.

"Really twice in one day!" She laughed as he got up and sleepily looked at her. "_Everything Ok_."

"Yeah I just can't sleep." She pointed at him accusingly ." Your child has taken it upon him-slash-herself to do back flips all night." Shawn smiled sweetly at her.

"Sorry." He looked at his watch. "It's almost two would you like some warm milk." She nodded and he was off banging around in the kitchen. "_You know if I didn't love you I wouldn't be doing this!"_

"_I know!" _She sat patiently and in a few minutes he returned with a steaming mug. She sipped at it gratefully. "Thanks." Shawn shrugged his shoulders.

"No prob. Just taking care of m'ladies." He put a hand on her belly.

"What make you think it's a girl" Shawn struck his psychic pose and she smacked his chest with a free hand.

"_Yeah OK."_ She handed her now empty mug back to him and retreated back to the kitchen. She snuggled into the covers feeling pleasantly sleepy. The sound of Shawn checking all the locks in the condo reached her ears. It was something he never had done before but since they came from the hospital that day he would get up at least twice a night to do it. At first it bothered her but she knew why he did it and it did make her feel a bit safer. She felt the bed sag under his weight. "Sleepy _now."_

"Yep but my mind is still running a mile a minute."

"Tell me about it."

"Well it's just Carlton left, without warning, and no one can reach him. I'm worried about him especially after Grace left to go back to D.C." Shawn's hand found hers.

"Jules he's a grown man and you know him he likes to deal with personal stuff alone. He's probably at Old Senora and just doesn't want to be bothered. He'll be back before you know it." Juliet nodded and started to close her eyes.

"I just wish I knew where he was because he's my partner and friend. He's been through so much."

"I know Jules, I know. We'll try to find out where he's gotten off to tomorrow." Shawn closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep to the sounds of Juliet's deep breathing.

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"Mark don't you just love early morning walks on the beach?" Mark looked at his wife of twenty-five years and smiled.

"Sure do hun." The continued their dawn walk and soon Mark spotted what looked like a woman sleeping on the beach. "Hun?" He pointed at the prone figure and they quicken their pace to check on her. Mark found himself looking at the clouded eyes of a twenty something year old woman and listening to the scream of his wife.


	3. Chapter 3

Carlton just watched Grace as she slept, he admired every dip and curve of her body and he wanted to sear it into his memory. Grace stirred in her sleep a bit and the shirt she was wearing rode up to expose the skin of her abdomen. Carlton studied the scar, felt the anger at the man, and then thanked God she was strong enough to survive all of it. He lightly traced the scar with his fingers and then stopped at the bottom of the scar, three silver-white lines streaked from below her belly button to below the boy short underwear. He paused at the sight, he knew what they were and what they stemmed from. He was conflicted because this beautiful scarred, _both emotionally and physically_, woman gave herself to him whole heartedly.

"Whatcha thinking there, detective?" Forcing his mouth into a smile he pulled her shirt back down and looked up at her smiling face.

"_How beautiful you are._" Grace just rolled her eyes, pushed him away, and got out of bed. She began to change into some sweats, Carlton watched her the whole time. He didn't realize he was watching her till she threw some water on his back. He yelped, _manly_, and jumped up and out of bed.

"What was that for?" She smiled and left the room only to return a half minute later with a pair of his sweats and a towel.

"We're going jogging and no matter how good you look naked it may attract some unwanted attention if you..." She motioned with her hands. "Go out like that." He took the proffered towel, dried off, and got dressed. "Ok. Let's go and _oh_ if you can't keep up don't feel too bad." She flashed him a smile and together they left.

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Shawn woke up to _Flight of the Bumblebee_ and an angry elbow thrown by his fiancé. He reached blindly on the bedside dresser and knocked his phone in the floor. The song kept playing and the phone skittered across the floor. Just as Shawn had gotten down on all fours and grabbed the phone as it went silent. "_Seriously!"_ His exclamation was followed by a pelting by a pillow and a loud groan. "Sorry Jules." He was going to leave the room and call back but Juliet's phone began to ring.

"Ah, Hell. No!" Juliet picked up her phone and threw it at him. "_You_ answer it. I'm sleeping." Shawn smiled at her anger and walked out the room while he answered the phone.

"Juliet O'Hara's, soon to be Spencer's phone, the incredibly sexy Shawn Spencer speaking."

"_Mr. Spencer I need you and O'Hara at the beachfront near the board walk, we have a homicide here that needs your 'special skills' and O'Hara's talent for talking to witnesses."_ Shawn groaned at the prospect of having to wake up his hormonal and tired fiancé. "_Is that a problem, Mr. Spencer?"_

"Um...no...no. We'll be there as soon as we can. Thank you Chief."

He entered their bedroom quietly, tiptoed to her side of the bed, and gently scratched her arm. "_Jules_. That was the chief, we need to get to the beach. There's a dead body." He gently shook her arm. _"Jules?"_ The sound of a pillow hitting his head and then his butt hitting the floor filled the room. "_oooomph!_" Juliet swung her legs over the side of the bed, stepped over a sputtering Shawn, and entered the bathroom slamming the door behind her. "Ok Jules. I'll just get dressed out here, _then_." He got dressed in his normal garb and then debated on whether or not to put on his shoulder holster.

"I would wear it." He looked up and saw Juliet smiling back at him. "_You know_ since everyone knows." She helped him slip it on and then threw him a jacket to cover it. "_And besides it's awfully sexy_." She scratched at his chest a bit and left.

"That. Was. _Weird_." He shook his head clear and at the impatient honking left the apartment.

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His heart was racing, his breaths short, and his legs were aching but on the bright side he had a beautiful view. "_Enjoying the view?"_ He looked at his running mate and tried to smile but judging by the way she laughed it came out as a grimace. She stopped outside an old Victorian and took some slow deliberate breaths. Carlton, on the other hand, was trying not to fall over in the lawn.

"_You...do...this...every...day?" _ She sat down on the curb and patted the spot next to her, inviting him to join. Glad for the invitation he collapsed and _huffed_ his breaths loudly.

"Usually I go a couple more miles and then back to my place but I wanted to bring you here." He looked at her confused and then looked at the building, there was nothing special about it the paint was simple and the lawn was perfectly manicured, he could also hear the sounds of children playing coming from the back. "Just breathe for a few more minutes and then we'll head inside."

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Juliet barely had time to stop the VW before Shawn threw open his side and ran around the car to open her door for her. "_M'ladies_." She laughed, took his offered hand, and stepped out of the car with his assistance.

"Thanks." Shawn closed the door behind her and then followed closely as they walked toward the crime scene. Juliet caught a few glances of Shawn and every time he had his arm held out protectively near her and was watching her steps in the sand. "I can walk just fine _you know?"_

"_I know_ but...well..."

"Mr. Spencer, O'Hara nice of you to join us." Shawn sighed in relief as Karen greeted them. "Mr. Spencer I need you to take a look at the body. O'Hara I need you to talk to the couple who found the body." Shawn made to object. "Mr. Spencer your fiancé can handle herself just fine, now go." Juliet gave an amused glance at Shawn and a thankful one to her boss.

Shawn walked over to the cordoned off area and began his observations. "She went to a club before she was taken." He snapped on a glove and picked up her hand. "Stamp's still visible. She was held for a couple days. She wasn't cuffed but there's a residue here that suggests she was bound by tape." He continued to scrutinize the girl. "Whoever kept her didn't hurt her till he did this." He turned her head and everyone could see where she had been hit. "Looks like some kind of tool. One that was hard enough to fracture the skull beneath it but not a hammer. A wrench maybe?" He looked from the clouded eyes of the girl and saw he had gained a crowd, all of them awestruck. "_What?"_

McNab was the first to talk. "Well we know you have no prior knowledge to who the girl was."

"_And?"_

_"_Her name is Mary Sheen she was last seen at a local club five days ago. Some of her friends took her out for her birthday. They say she left with some guy and was never heard from again." Shawn just nodded and went back to his observations.

"There is some kind of oil here." He pointed at a spot behind her ear. "Looks like we may have a partial." He stood up as the CSI's swarmed the girl. Juliet was done with her interview and was making her way toward him.

"Find anything?" She was out of breath and holding her belly. Shawn almost ran toward her and grasped her elbow to guide her toward a place to sit. "_I'm fine."_ She wrenched her elbow loose from his grip, he let go and watched as she stormed away. He ran after her ignoring the glances and the chief's attempts at stopping him.

"_Jules! Wait!"_

"WHAT!" He froze, shocked at her anger. "What do you want!" She spun and almost fell on the shifty terrain. Shawn stepped forward and caught her in just the nick of time.

"I'm _worried_ about you and the baby." He righted her and stood in front of her waiting for her response. "_I'm scared_." Juliet gasped and looked into his eyes, they were full of sincere fear and worry.

"_Shawn."_ She saw tears threatening so she took his hands and put them on _their_ child.

"_I just think...no I know if I lost either of you I couldn't go on living."_ She reached up and cupped his chin with her hand.

"We're still here." She gave a small smile. "_We're here because of you."_ She couldn't stop the tears that formed behind her eyes and they fell gently. "_If it wasn't for you..."_ All semblance of control was lost and she let out a quiet sob. Shawn pulled her in tight and kept his hand on stomach and smiled a bit as the baby kicked at his hand.

Other officers looked their way but they said nothing as the two held each other assuring each other with words.

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When Carlton entered the old building he didn't expect what was behind the door. There were several children running around, he could hear people rattling pans in the kitchen and there were several people in the living room talking quietly. What struck him the most was that there was a reception type area. "This is a safe place, isn't it?" Grace smiled knowingly at him and led him by his hand past the woman who was at the front desk toward the noisy kitchen.

"_Grace!"_ Several of the women looked up and smiles broke out on their faces. One of the women broke rank and came to greet Grace.

"How you been sweetie?" The woman asked Grace the question but was looking at Carlton the whole time.

Grace smiled at the silver haired woman. "I've been good Kathy." She pushed Carlton forward a bit. "And this is the man I told you about."

Karen's eyes lit up with recognition and Carlton found himself being crushed by the older woman. "You're the reason our Grace came back to us." She broke the hug and held him at arms length. "You are _handsome._" Grace chuckled and leapt to Carlton's rescue by grabbing his hand again and leading him out back toward the reception area.

"Twelve woman can live here at any given time. Many of the women bring kids and as of right now we have eight women living here and ten kids."

"_We?"_ Grace turned and faced him.

"I own the place." She gave a small smile and went back to her explanation. "We have support groups that meet here almost everyday and volunteers come and cook, many of them past residents." Carlton was taken aback by the strength of the woman who stood before him, not only did she put away sickos and psycho but she made sure the most innocent of people had a place they could call safe.

"This is just..._wow."_

Grace sighed. "Yeah I figured some good could come outta of this place." Carlton heard the wistfulness in her voice and then he took a closer look at the place and it dawned on him.

"_This is where..."_ Grace just nodded and met his gaze.

"This is where he took me." Carlton didn't know what to say and his train of thought was quickly interrupted when there was a banging on the door. Carlton watched as the women in the living room looked up, frightened. He heard as the rattling in the kitchen stopped and as the kids suddenly became scarce. Grace put a hand on his chest as if to tell him to stay and answered the door. Just as the door opened a bloodied woman burst through. The once still house became a flurry of action as two women gathered up the injured party, Kathy came and investigated what was going on, the children let curiosity get the best of them, and Grace started directing them.

"Someone call for an ambulance and the police." The woman began shaking with sobs.

"_no..no...no...she'll kill me "_

Grace knelt next to the woman and touched her arm to get her attention. "_Hey. It's OK you're safe here."_ Carlton watched as Grace's posture softened. "_We'll keep you safe."_ She stood and walked back to the door to close it and froze. This time Carlton watched as Grace went from calm to tense and he subconsciously tensed along with her. Slowly she backed up and the reason for her sudden posture change became apparent, a nine millimeter was in her face and the woman wielding it looked beyond angry. Carlton slowly backed toward the living room as the person came fully into the home.

"She. Is. Mine!" Grace held up her hand in a placating manner.

"_Hey. There is no need for that."_ The woman tightened her finger on the trigger and the deafening sound of gunfire filled the quiet home.


	4. Chapter 4

There was blood on her favorite jogging shirt, her chest hurt and she couldn't breathe. Carlton's worried eyes floated before her vision, she saw his mouth moving but she didn't hear a word. Grace's vision darkened and then she knew no more.

"Grace!" Carlton shouted her name but Grace was still. "_Come on Grace, wake up."_

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After the emotional breakdown at the beach Karen decided it was best for Juliet and Shawn to go back home and get some rest. Shawn was reluctant at first but Juliet had a pleading look about her so he relented and made sure they would be informed when any new information popped up. The car was completely silent as they drove back to the condo, Shawn kept throwing Juliet worried glances as she stared out the window.

"Looks like we have company." Juliet gaze went from her window to the windshield. "I can tell them to leave if you want." Juliet shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's fine, _really._" Shawn parked the car between the blueberry and his dad's truck. Entering their place Juliet made a bee line toward the bedroom and Shawn just stood in the living room looking lost.

"_Shawn?"_ He looked up and saw his father in the kitchen cooking something. From the spare bedroom he could hear rattling and then footsteps of Gus approaching.

"Used your spare key buddy?" Gus looked embarrassed but it disappeared quickly when he saw the downtrodden look on Shawn's face.

"_What's wrong?" _Gus looked up at Henry who shrugged his shoulders.

"I was just about to ask him the same thing." He turned to his son again. "Shawn you can tell us anything, _you know that."_ Shawn nodded and sighed heavily as he collapsed on the couch.

"We kinda had a breakdown earlier." Henry sat on one side of Shawn and Gus sat on the other. "We were at a crime scene and,_ I don't know, _she looked tired and I overreacted." He ran his hand over his face. "She yelled at me, I confessed how scared I was about losing her or the baby, and then she cried." He sighed again. "Just everything hit at once, _I guess_; coming back to work, Lassie disappearing, the idea of being parents, _it's overwhelming_."

Henry placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "Well it's not going to get any easier, kid."

"_Gee thanks for the confidence_." Henry chuckled and stood to tend to whatever he was cooking.

"Gus how about you show him." Shawn was confused as Gus stood and motioned for him to follow.

Gus opened the door to the spared bedroom and Shawn couldn't hold back the gasp of surprise; all the old furniture was gone and in its place was a crib and a changing table, the walls had been repainted so instead of the plain yellow there was farm scene complete with horses and cows, the ceiling was now painted sky blue and there were clouds that streaked across it, the curtains had also changed and featured red barns.

"_How_?" He felt a calloused hand clasp his shoulder.

"Well kid you were gone for a couple of hours and we had a partner in crime."

"I _knew_ the chief had a soft spot for me. But _how_ did you get this all done in three hours?"

"We had help, in the form of some off duty officers, but when Karen called and said you were coming back early we vamoosed them outta here. A lot of people like you kid." Shawn cracked a genuine smile.

"We haven't shown you the best part yet." Gus pulled the shades, closed the door, and shut the lights off and the once blue ceiling glowed with constellations of the night sky.

"_Wow." _ Gus opened the door and flicked the light back on.

"I did the ceiling and your dad did the stencils for the wall scenes, the officers painted as your dad put the crib and changing table together. We were about to put together a dresser and a book shelf but you guys came back early."

Shawn rubbed the back of his neck _"Sorry 'bout that._"

"It's alright kid." He started back to the kitchen. "So how about we eat something and finish before Juliet wakes up."

Gus and Henry left the room to finish up the lunch and Shawn just stood in the room in awe. He closed his eyes and traced his fingers along the edge of the crib. Opening them he felt the need to dab at his eyes a bit before he joined his friend and father. "_There better be some pineapple!"_

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Just as Grace passed out Carlton heard the fast approaching sirens, looking up hopefully Kathy gave him a nod and he went outside to direct the police and paramedics. "_Detective Lassiter?"_ When Carlton spun around he was face-to-chest with Agent Matt Turner.

"Turner."

"What are you doing here?" Carlton shook his head in the negative and turned around almost running to get back into the house. As he entered the home he heard the man behind him gasp.

"_Oh God. Grace!"_

Carlton knelt next to her and put her head in his lap. "She's fine. I think she had a panic attack. That woman." He pointed at the now bleeding and unconscious woman. "Pointed a gun in her face and was going to shoot her, _I didn't have any other choice."_ Turner nodded and stepped outside to give the paramedics an all clear. Soon the little reception area was filled with medical personnel and police officers. Carlton felt Grace stir a bit in his lap and he looked down at her expectantly.

"_Can't take you anywhere."_

He smiled. "You already knew that." Slowly Grace began to sit up and surveyed the situation. The woman who had beaten her girlfriend and was going to shoot her was bleeding from a wound on her shoulder was being strapped onto a gurney, more medics were checking out the hysterical woman who was trying to see her girlfriend , several of the kids were cowering behind their moms crying, many of the women were pale and some were even crying. Grace's breath hitched and quickened as her heart rate rose.

"_I...I need to get out of here._" She tried to stand but stumbled as her head swam. Her chest began to hurt again and she could feel her throat trying to close. Carlton was at a loss as to what to do, thankfully Turner was there and came to the rescue by picking her up as if she was a baby, held her close and carried her outside. "_Can't...can't breathe."_ Grace had a hand on her chest and try as she might she could only take half breaths.

"Shhhhh...it's ok Grace. I got you." Carlton watched as the man pulled her in tight. "Just focus on me, on my breathing, just listen to my heart Grace." Grace squeezed her eyes shut and nuzzled into the man's chest soon her breathing regulated.

Carlton walked tentatively toward the huddled duo. "_She ok." _Turner looked up at him and nodded.

"Been having these since she came back. First time I saw one I thought she was having a heart attack. That's why she's still off duty."

"_Gee talk about me like I'm not even here. Why don't 'cha."_ Both Carlton and Matt smiled as Grace slowly unlatched herself. "There not always that bad you _know?" _ Even slower she stood but not on her own accord, Carlton had to guide her.

_You OK?"_ She smiled and nodded gratefully at him. She extended a hand in the air and soon keys were filling it.

"Matt you know where I live." The man nodded at her and then pointed at one of the many vehicles that was behind them. She nodded, grabbed Carlton's hand, and headed toward said car.

"That really just happened?" Grace flashed him a smile and threw him the keys. "How often does that work?"

"_Every time."_ As they entered the spacious SUV Carlton couldn't help but feel worry.

"You're sure you're OK?" Grace nodded and hummed while she leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. Carlton started the SUV and just froze, he had no idea where he was going.

"Plug it into the nav. on the dash." Carlton smiled at Grace and did as he was told, soon they were driving toward her apartment. "How long are you here for?"

"Two weeks." Grace hummed again. "I wanted to stay longer but..."

"It alright I was just wondering how long I can keep you in bed before your body gives out." Carlton spared Grace a glance and saw her waggling her eyebrows at him with a smirk on her face. He could feel the blush rise on his cheeks as he pushed harder on the accelerator.

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Juliet woke up to the smell of something delicious and the sound of Shawn's laughter, entering the kitchen she couldn't stop her own giggles. "Shawn! How on earth did you get spaghetti sauce on your back?" Shawn spun and saw her trying to stifle her laughs.

"_Like this."_ He grabbed a spoon and chased her through the house, her laughter filling the air. As they ran up the hallway that held the spare bedroom and the second bathroom Shawn stopped short.

Juliet spun and looked at him quizzically. "_Shawn?"_ He motioned with his head and opened the spare room. Juliet followed his cue and entered the room, what she saw made her gasp. "_It's...it's just...wow."_ She hugged him tightly and try as she might she couldn't stop the tears. "_Thank you."_

"I didn't do all of it, in fact, dad and Gus along with some off duty officers did most of it, you should thank them too." She broke the hug and swiped her eyes. "Dad! Gus! Get in here!" As they entered the room Juliet almost tackled them with a bone crushing hug."

"Thank you."

"Anything for my future daughter-in-law and grandchild." He smiled down at her.

"Yeah Jules, we'll do anything for the woman who house trained that one." He jerked a thumb at Shawn making Juliet laugh loudly. She stepped backward and sniffed the air.

"_Garlic bread?"_ Henry nodded and chuckled a bit when she pushed them aside to get to the kitchen faster.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Mary had lasted longer than the others but like them she couldn't do what was asked of her. "Stupid girl." He was, after all, looking for love and all she had to do was cook, clean and love him back. "But that was too hard, I guess." He took the photo he had of her and put it with the others. He got dressed for the evening's events and smirked at his reflection. Years of working out made him a very attractive specimen, his muscles rippled underneath his shirt and his tight jeans, he had no trouble picking up the ladies just keeping them. "Oh well she's out there, somewhere." As he turned out the lights to his apartment he passed a wall covered in photos, all of them a different girl, all of them had failed at their duties, all _thirty-three_ of them.


	5. Chapter 5

Carlton had just bent over to pull on his shoes when he felt the woman in the bed stir. He was hoping that he could have left without her waking. "_Stay."_ He closed his eyes and sighed, he really didn't want to go but over the past week the bodies of three women had washed on the shores of Santa Barbara and the Chief had even resorted to calling Turner's line at the FBI. When the phone call came through on Grace's home phone he regretted instantly telling his boss where he was going but he had to tell someone so they didn't think he had gone and killed himself, gotten abducted, murdered, or was having a mental break down. That fateful call came in thirty-six hours ago and he had immediately got his departure bump up to as close as he could but far enough in the future so he could give Grace a proper goodbye. _But how do you say goodbye to the woman you're falling for?_

"I can't." Grace sat up, the sheet puddled around her, as Carlton met her gaze. He still couldn't believe that someone so gorgeous was interested in him and for the past twelve hours he had tried to show her how thankful he was in this very bed. After all he could sleep on the flight but he only had the one last night with this woman.

"Shawn's there, he can do it." Carlton heard the desperation in her voice and the fact that she was bordering on tears did not escape his attention, he had been there for enough breakdowns and panic attacks that he knew this was affecting her just as much or perhaps more than it was affecting him.

He lay down on his side, not caring if he wrinkled the suit, and pulled her down on her side. They lay there just studying each other's feature both trying to sear it into their memory, because they both _knew_ this was goodbye and they may never see the other person again. Carlton reached out his hand and cupped her cheek; Grace leaned into the touch and kissed his hand gently. "_I'm sorry Grace."_

Grace squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "I'm not."

"You know what I mean."

Grace gave a sad smile and nodded. "_I know._"

Carlton brushed the tear that escaped with his thumb and pulled Grace's lips to his. The kiss was unlike any they had shared for the past week, they had always been filled with lust or quick to say I'll think of you while I'm shopping, _no _this kiss said so much more than that; it was slow, sweet, desperate, full of need, want, _love_ and all too soon it ended. Carlton sat back up and pulled on his shoes. "I have to go or I'll be late." Grace nodded, they shared one last chaste kiss, Carlton stood, grabbed his bag and left.

As soon as the door closed to her apartment Grace threw on a t-shirt, ran to it and cracked the door to watch as the man she had fallen for get in his rental, give the apartment building one last glance, and pull away. Grace's front door closed with a click but to her it sounded like gunfire and soon she was sinking down the length of the wood, her backed pressed against it firmly she hugged her knees and cried till she couldn't breathe.

Shawn was stirred awake when he felt Juliet getting out of bed. He reached blindly and pulled her closer by the arm nuzzling his head in the nape of her neck. "_Stay."_

"Shawn."

Shawn gripped her closer a smile crossing his face as her baby bump pressed against his own stomach. "_No!_ I don't care if Lassie's coming back today, you'll see him later. Stay."

Juliet started to wriggle and wrestle his arms off of her. "Shawn."

Shawn tried to pull her back in but Juliet was more awake and batted his arms away effectively. He groaned at the loss of warmth. "_But Jules."_ The whine in his voice was enough to make Juliet roll her eyes and give an exasperated sigh.

"Shawn, what time is it?" As groggy as he was Shawn complied in her request and looked at the alarm clock.

"Three am. _Jules, _why up so early?"

"I have to pee."

Shawn felt embarrassed and if it was bright enough he was sure Juliet would see the small amount of blush that crossed his cheeks. "_Oh. Sorry."_

Juliet laughed. "I'll be back in a minute."

Shawn listened as she retreated to the restroom and clicked on the light. Since they had that talk on the beach both parties had tried to be more understanding about the other's feelings. Shawn had to understand that although Juliet was terrified in that shed, she was safe now and she _felt_ safe, she didn't need protection from every little thing that came her way from swollen ankles to paperwork. And Juliet was trying to understand Shawn's need to try and protect her at every turn, but it was next to impossible to know what it felt like to lose a child so she usually just bit her tongue but _sometimes_ she let her hormones take control.

Juliet left the little room feeling so much better and grinned at the sight in the bed, Shawn had fully invaded her side of the bed and was snuggling with her pillow. She pulled the covers off of him and scooted herself into small space that he left for her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders she sighed contently as he pulled the covers over the both of them and pulled her in as tight as he dared. "Sometimes you're all arms and legs Shawn Spencer."

"_You love it."_ One of his hands slipped down in between them and rested on her belly. "Besides good practice for when we'll have to share the bed."

She wriggled further into his embrace and drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes. Shawn's smiled at the sleeping angel in his arms and shut his eyes comforted by the sound of her breathing and the nudging he felt underneath his hand. "_Love you Jules."_ And soon he was asleep as well.

He had found and been disappointed by three women this week, normally he didn't work this fast but he was getting closer to thirty and as his mama would always say. "_Once you hit thirty, boy, no woman is going to be interested."_

He was doing all this searching so his mama would be happy but, _hell_, it was so hard. He sighed and smiled at the newest woman he picked up from the club.

"So Jessica want to come back to my place."

The girl was quite beautiful, long brown hair and big green eyes, and she was just tipsy enough to agree.

"Sorry but I have a boyfriend." She giggled as if she just told a joke perhaps she had because he had been buying her drinks all night and chatting her up.

He felt his anger rise as she giggled and sipped at the drink he _bought_. "You are coming with me." He growled and she snapped her head up at the anger.

"I. Have. A. Boyfriend." She turned to walk away. "_What are you stupid?"_ He jerked her arm_ hard_ and pulled her in.

He whispered in her ear. "Come with me or I'll kill you." He felt he nod against his chest and holding her close they made their way out of the backdoor of the club, to the outsider they just looked like an embracing couple ready to call it a night and get back to their bed.

As soon as fresh air hit her face she began to scream but it was cut short as he wrapped his large, calloused hands around her throat and squeezed. "Stupid bitch."

Jessica clawed at his hands the best she could and tried to scream but it only came out as a pitiful squeak, frothy spit splattering his face as she tried to catch her breath. He gave her neck one last hard squeeze, crushing her trachea and walked away as she writhed on the concrete to try and get some air in her lungs.

He didn't care that he left fingerprints or DNA on her, he didn't have a record, he was a 'good kid' with a decent job and an old boat. _No one_ would expect such a good person to be capable of murder but he didn't have a choice, _now did he?_ If the girl wasn't good enough for him then she wasn't good enough for anyone and must be taken care off. "_Disappointing."_ He spat on the ground as he climbed on his motorcycle and from his vantage point he watched as some of the club goers left and found the now dead Jessica on the pavement, all wide eyed and mouth opened in silent scream. He chuckled as one of the people who looked less drunk than the others kneeled next to the body, checked for a pulse, and said something spurring the others to start screaming. He put his helmet on and drove away.


	6. Chapter 6

Grace knew she couldn't spend the whole day leaning against the door and crying so she stood and decided it was time for a run. As she entered her bedroom she sighed mostly sad but partly happy. She and Carlton had spent so much time in this room making happy memories but because of those memories she was sad seeing as he was currently up in the air flying toward the place he calls home, three thousand miles away from her.

Rummaging through her drawer to find one of her warmer jogging shirts she came across a very faded SBPD academy sweatshirt with a post it note attached. She chuckled at the message. '_Sorry I ruined your favorite jogging shirt. Hopefully this'll be a good replacement.'_ Grace held it to her nose and inhaled deeply, _quintessentially Carlton,_ that was the only way to describe the mingling of gun oil, Old Spice, Irish Spring and his own scent. She quickly pulled the sweater over her head and finished getting dressed catching a wiff of Carlton's smell every now and then as she moved.

Doing some stretches as she walked through her apartment toward the door she decided to grab her cellphone, normally she would leave it because her jogging time was her alone time and just like Carlton she was always strapped, so 911 was an afterthought. She looked at her cell in her hand and felt a nagging need to take it so for the first time in almost ten years Grace took her cellphone on a jog.

The cold April air rushed past her as she ran her familiar route and further. A light spray served to chill her further but she didn't even notice as her mind filled with a million thoughts most of them Carlton. She continued running till the sound of her cell ringing snapped her back to reality, she gave the ID a precursory glance.

"Matt, what's going on at." She looked at her watch and grimaced. "Two AM?" Grace was sincerely shocked about the time; she just wanted to run to allow her mind to clear so checking the time before she left was last on her list, but she could dwell on that later right now her partner was talking to her.

"Well I'm jogging." She looked around. "About five miles east of my place." _Five miles? How long was I running?_ "Ok I'll wait." She disconnected the call and did some cool down exercises till the bright beam of an SUV nearly blinded her. The vehicle stopped and Grace climbed in. "What's going on?"

Matt looked at her, his eyes more than a little mad. "What are you doing jogging at _two_ in the morning?"

Grace sighed. "He left this morning."

"Oh."

"Yeah." She chewed on her lip. "So what's going on?"

Turner handed her a file and Grace gave it a quick once over. "_Really?"_

"As of ten minutes ago you've been reinstated."

Grace smiled broadly "Well, partner, when do we start?"

"ASAP preferably within the hour."

Grace nodded and popped open her door to get out laughing at Matt's incredulous look. "Well, I'm going to finish my jog."

Matt shook his head in almost disbelief. "Whatever you say partner."

As Grace jogged home her spirits were lifter, she was finally back in the game and in less than an hour she would be pursing another bad guy with her partner, who was currently following her in a not-so-inconspicuous matter. She waved as the blacked out SUV as she entered her apartment and then was a flurry of activity as she got ready for her first case back.

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Carlton sighed and stretched as he rolled his luggage toward the short term parking. He paused momentarily and considered calling his partner, bringing out his Blackberry to begin dialing only to freeze. The picture that was his wallpaper had been changed presumably by Grace the night before. The picture had been taken by one of Matt's teenage daughters the day Grace had her cast removed. Apparently cast removal meant bar-b-que in the almost too cold spring day. So while Matt burned the burgers and his wife made the potato salad the three teens, Grace and Carlton were trying to keep warm. Despite the best efforts with coats and huddling Carlton's nose decided to take on a pink glow and try to fall off his face, so Grace took it upon herself to warm it up the best way she knew how to, a kiss. And just so happens when you're surrounded by teenage girls cellphones start clicking away.

Carlton ghosted a finger over the lit up screen and smiled, Grace's lips were firmly planted on him and although you could only see the side of their faces Carlton was smiling genuinely and Grace was trying her damdest to not laugh. He sighed sadly, put his phone away and continued to cart off toward his Fusion. He could let his partner sleep in and no matter how much he despised Spencer, more often than not, his partner loved that spaz and Carlton really understood how every moment counts with the one you love.

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Juliet couldn't sleep and for the first time in a while her fiancée or the baby wasn't to blame, no, she _blamed_ Carlton. At exactly 7:15 she woke with a start expecting for her partner to be calling her from the airport, plane, or even the station but there was only silence. After almost an hour of lying there trying to get some much needed sleep she slowly disentangled herself from her octopus of a bedmate and decided it was time to use the post-it that Shawn stole from the Chief's office.

She knew that Carlton was supposed to arrive today, early, from wherever he had gone hence the sticky note with the flight number on it. Juliet also knew that if she did what she was about to do it would be invading Carlton's privacy and she would probably get lectured but, _dammit,_ she was worried about him. When she typed in the number into the Santa Barbara Airport database she saw that flight 451 from D.C. to SB had arrived at 6:30. _D.C?_ Juliet smiled. "So that's what you've been up to partner." Her smile fell quickly, though, because it was only on her insistence that the Chief call Carlton back. She bit her lip as she muddled over what her next step should be. Her answer came with the sound of bare feet padding across the tile floor toward her.

"Jules, everything ok?"

Juliet turned and nodded. "Yeah just looking up Carlton's flight number."

Shawn smirked. "I knew my sneakiness would rub off on you. So?"

"It arrived at 6:30 and given traffic and the way he drives he has probably been at the station since about seven." She checked her phone again to see if she missed a text message or a voicemail. "He hasn't called or texted or anything. And now I'm debating whether or not I should call him or just go to work as if nothing happened."

Shawn actually looked thoughtful as he stood there in his boxers and sleep mussed hair. "Well I say you get ready, call him, and then go to work." Juliet nodded and stood fully intent to get ready only to be stopped when her stomach growled loudly and the baby kicking voicing displeasure at the lack of food. Shawn smiled widely. "Breakfast first then get ready."

"I'm thinking pancakes, how about you?" Juliet started getting out the mix and pan necessary to make them. "I'm afraid I ate the last of the pineapple yesterday so you'll just have to be happy with the plain version." As she got out the whisk and measuring cup she heard Shawn's stomach gurgle loudly. "I'll take that as a yes." She chuckled and turned around only for her laugh to stop, Shawn had turned pale and was sweating. "_Shawn?"_

The man in question clamped a hand over his mouth and bolted toward the spare bathroom, his knees cracked as he hit the floor and then proceeded to be violently ill. Juliet was quickly at the doorstep and went to be by his side to be stopped by Shawn outstretching a hand and shaking his head. "No, Jules." He sat back against the wall and took some steadying breaths. "Looks like I'm not as lucky as I thought I was."

"_Oh Shawn."_ Juliet knew exactly what he was talking about, for the past two weeks a stomach virus had made it rounds through the station so far Shawn and Juliet had been spared. "Maybe if you hadn't deflected everyone from me then you wouldn't be sick." She did feel bad for him but she knew that his actions had basically been an open invitation for the bug to get ahold of him.

"_Worth it."_ Shawn swallowed deeply a few times and he started sweating again. He scrambled to the toilet and nearly hugged it as he got sick again. Juliet tried to get close only to be stopped again; Shawn flipped down the lid on the fixture and laid his head on it. "I don't want you to get sick, _either of you._" He motioned weakly at her belly. "I'll be fine, just go to work almost everyone there has already had this."

"But you're sick."

"And you're pregnant."

Juliet shut her eyes and sighed. "I'm going to call Gus." Shawn nodded. "And your dad."

"Ok."

She watched as Shawn lay back against the wall and closed his eyes looking as if he was going to sleep or pass out. Juliet felt even worse as she watched him loll his head against the wallpaper; he didn't even dispute her calling his father. "Ok, then."

She hovered near the bathroom as she made her phone calls and grimaced when she hung up with Gus as Shawn started to throw up some more. A frantic knocking at her door tore her attention away from her ill fiancée, as she opened the door she was assaulted with Purell and a facemask.

"Juliet, what are you thinking? You should go to work. If you get sick you can get dehydrated and that won't be good for you or the baby." Juliet wiped the goopy sanitizer from her hands and went to remove the facemask only for Gus to grab it and hold it in place. "Leave it on and get ready for work."

Juliet glared at Gus as she went toward her bedroom. "Ok, _Guster,_ but remember if he upchucks before Henry gets here you have to take care of it." She then smiled as she heard Gus whimper and swallow. "That's what you get for making the pregnant lady angry."

"Not cool Juliet, not cool." Gus stood in the hallway that led to the nursery and spare bathroom as Juliet went into the bed room to get ready for the day.

"_Gus?"_ He cautiously followed his friend's voice and was almost at the bathroom door when he heard the sound of vomit splashing, Gus instantly froze and all but ran the opposite direction.

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Carlton checked his watch again as he reread the file the Chief had given him. He was sick just thinking about it women were washing up on the shores of Santa Barbara, _his town_, and all of the cases had the same MO. The girls were seen with a very attractive man at a club or a party anywhere where there were lots of people and alcohol. They would be seen leaving with the man, perfectly fine, and not seen again till their bodies washed ashore. He sighed at the lack of information about each body, the sea seemed to have washed all the evidence away. The only break they had was the partial Spencer found on the first girl.

"You're running late." Carlton didn't even look up as he heard his partner walking up to her desk behind him.

"Look whose talking." The bite in Juliet's voice made Carlton spin his head around so fast he was sure he just gave himself whiplash. "Shawn's sick."

Carlton nodded and tried to keep his full attention on the file in front of him instead of her protruding belly that he could have sworn had grown in the last week and a half. "I already read the file."

Juliet huffed as she threw her bag into her desk drawer and locked it. "Missed you too."

Carlton growled to himself, he should have known that his disappearance wouldn't be forgiven so easily. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Juliet almost fell over with shock at the sincere apology. "I know where you went."

Carlton put down the file and couldn't stop the glare. "And _how _do you know that?"

"Shawn stole a post it from the Chief that had you're flight number on it." She held her chin up in defiance. "I wouldn't have done it if you told me. Why didn't you tell me?"

The sadness in her voice stopped any anger he felt. He rubbed at the back of his neck and look down at his lap. "I….just….hell O'Hara I needed to see her."

Juliet believed him and went over to his desk and handed him a folder. "These are the notes Shawn took on each of the victims."

Carlton looked over the meticulously written notes. "He wrote these?" He was astounded by the information that the man had taken about each woman. "Why aren't these in the files?"

"Yes and it's not officially an FBI investigation. The notes wouldn't be admissible in court." She sighed. "Sometimes I think it was just easier when he was playing the psychic card."

Carlton hummed while he was reading over the notes. He was so engrossed in the information that he didn't even look up when Karen's door opened and she walked over to his desk.

"Lassiter, O'Hara we have another victim to add to these killings." Carlton wasn't engrossed enough to not pick up on the controlled anger of his boss, he looked up and saw the fire in her eyes. "There was a body of a young woman found outside Club Grey around four this morning. Woody lifted a print from her throat, it matches the partial Mr. Spencer found." Karen looked up and around the bullpen. "Speaking of where is Mr. Spencer?"

"He's sick, he has the stomach flu."

Karen grimaced as she remembered her bout with that particular bug, five days worth of throwing up everything she ate or drank. She hated to do this but she needed everyone in on the case, sick or not. "Call him up, we need him here."

Juliet's jaw dropped because even Karen took a few days off when she was sick. "But Chief, he's sick."

"I heard you."

"Even you took a few days off when you had it."

Carlton raised his eyebrows in shock at her defiance while Karen just cocked her head to the side and threw a file on Carlton's desk. "This girl makes number four, I don't want there to be a number five. Call. Him." Karen crossed her arms across her chest. "And I _hope_ you're attitude takes a change for the better O'Hara?"

"Yes Chief."

Juliet sighed as Karen walked away and began to dial a familiar number on her cell.

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Shawn groaned as he flushed the toilet and stood, his throat was on fire, his head throbbed, and he was sure everything he had eaten, _ever,_ was now on a waterslide ride through the Santa Barbara municipal system. He stumbled toward the kitchen for a glass of water only to find his dad on the couch watching TV and Gus disinfecting everything in sight.

Shawn groaned. "Kill me, please." Henry looked up at him and patted on the cushion next to him.

"Sit." Shawn did and looked bleary eyed at his father who shoved a thermometer in his mouth. "Hold it there, I'll go get you some water." Shawn groaned to signify his assent and fell over to his side as Henry got up. "Don't get too comfortable, I'm coming back."

Shawn closed his eyes and felt himself nodding off till the sound of his phone ringing brought him back to consciousness. "_Really?_" He spit out the thermometer and went to the bedroom where he left his phone. Just as he hit the threshold to the room he heard a knock at the front door. "Dad get that will ya."

He heard Henry's grumbled response and grabbed his cell closing the door while he answered it. "Jules! Are you checking up on me?"

Shawn listened to Juliet and knew that his body had picked possibly the worst possible time to be sick. "Ok Jules I'll be then in about an hour." Shawn started to shuck out of his lounge clothes when he heard the bedroom door open. "That was Jules another girl's body was found a fingerprint on her neck matched the partial I found on Mary Sheen. They want me to play the psychic card, I guess." Shawn turned around and froze.

"Well don't stop on my account."

Shawn looked down and saw that he was down to his boxers. "Ummmmm….not the person I was expecting."

"That's alright I wasn't expecting you to be almost naked or sick as a dog."

"Grace." She smiled at his shock.

"Surprise Spencer and congrats Santa Barbara has attracted another crazy person."


	7. Chapter 7

Carlton was about halfway through the detailed file that Shawn had written when he noticed a glint, _on his partner's left hand._He looked up and eyeballed his partner with scrutiny he normally saved for crime scenes and suspects. Slowly his eyes travelled to her hands that were flying over her keyboard, it was hard but he managed to catch the glint again.

"O'Hara what the hell is _that_?" Juliet looked down at the hand Carlton was glaring at and gaped like a fish for a few seconds as she searched for an answer that wouldn't piss her partner off.

"_Ummmmmm….._" She thanked God that the baby decided this moment to kick her especially hard. Her hands flew instinctively to her belly. "_Oh!"_

Carlton's eyes widened and he shot up from his desk effectively knocking over his chair, which was rather impressive since it had wheels. "O'Hara?" He nearly tripped as he strode to her side in two steps. He looked worried, panicked even.

Juliet rubbed the spot on her stomach that the baby just assaulted and took a deep breath. "I'm fine."

"_Oooookay."_Carlton still looked unsure but he backed up a little bit, his eyes still locked on her hands that were massaging her belly.

"Carlton _really_, I'm fine." She smiled at him to try and disarm his worry. "Just a hard kick, I promise." Carlton's shoulders lost their tension and he let out a breath.

"If you're sure, O'Hara." He backed up some more but his eyes never left her.

"I'm sure." He gave a nod and went back to his desk. He looked around the bullpen and saw that only a few officers were watching them out of the corners of their eyes but none dared to look straight at him as he picked up his overturned chair.

He had started to pour back over the details when he heard the bane of his existence.

"Lassie-face!" Carlton growled and dropped his head to his desk; he was too tired for this.

"Shawn!" Juliet stood and tried to give Shawn a hug only to be blocked by Gus. "_Guster."_Juliet gave out a growl worthy of Carlton but it was stopped short when she saw a flash of raven black hair and an unmistakable face. She was just about to shout Grace's name when the agent put a finger to her lips signifying the universal 'shhhhh.' Grace snuck over to Carlton's desk and bent over so that her lips were almost touching his ear and her hair draped over his desk.

Juliet decided to quit fighting Gus and smirked as she watched Grace. "O'Hara, just give me five minutes before I have to deal with him." When he got no response he huffed a sigh but when he inhaled he smelled something familiar, a scent he had been up close and personal with for the past week and a half. He shut his eyes tighter because he knew that his memory was just playing some sick twisted game with him.

"Detective Lassiter, I thought you would've missed me." Now his memory couldn't be that cruel to him so he turned his head to come face to face with the most beautiful woman in the world.

"_Grace?" _Disbelief quickly gave way to realization and he felt a weight lift off his heavy shoulders.

She smirked and straightened. "Are you quite through pouting like a little kid? Because you can have a nap time if you like." She stuck her tongue between her teeth as she smiled at him and crinkled her nose.

"And Carlton never in a million years would I ever get that close to you." Juliet had fisted her hand and put them on her hips but she was smiling.

"Well I just thought." He shrugged his shoulders. "With your hormones, you'd be more touchy feely."

An unnerving silence overtook the immediate area as Juliet gave her partner the stare down. "Oh she's more touchy feely Lassie but not in the way you think, she's a smacker." Shawn's joke fell flat as his voice wavered and weakened calling the attention of the people around him.

"_Shawn?"_Several things happened at once, Shawn went three shades whiter, Grace grabbed a trash can, and Henry wrapped his arms around Shawn's waist as his knees buckled. The can was placed in front of the man as Henry helped his descent go from knee breaking to just bruising. Shawn immediately grabbed the receptacle and starting gagging expelling the measly contents of his stomach. Much to everyone's surprise, Grace was the one who knelt next to the sick man and starting rubbing his back and shoulders, whispering in his ear. Once the heaving had subsided, Shawn nodded to whatever Grace had asked him and with her help stood up shakily.

"Matt, can you take Shawn to the overtime room?" Matt let Shawn lean into him as they made their way to the room in the way back of the station. "Well, that was fun. Detective Lassiter care to help me get the files?" Carlton didn't have a choice but to follow as Grace spun on her heel and strode out of the station.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Juliet was nearly fuming; Shawn was hers to take care of, the only exceptions were Gus and Henry.

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As soon they got to the rental and Grace opened the door, she pulled Carlton in for a kiss that nearly burned and made his whole body tingle. Instinctively he threaded his fingers in her long hair and pushed her till she laid on the back seat. The kiss grew deeper till Carlton realized that they were, _in fact_, in a public place and not just any public place the parking lot of the police department. He reluctantly pulled away from Grace's lips and huffed heavily. Their noses were still touching and her breath ghosted over his lips.

"Miss me?" Grace smiled.

"You have no idea." Someone clearing their throat had Grace snapping her head up to see their new guest but there was a problem with that, Carlton face was in the way. A nasty head-butt that ended in curses ensued and their guest tried to hold back a snort but they were upright in record time and face to face with their guest.

"Officer McNab, been a while." Grace nodded at the tall officer whose ears were turning red. "Did you need something?"

Buzz cleared his throat again. "I was told to find you and give you this." He handed Grace a particularly thick looking folder. The man just stood there while Grace gave it a quick look over.

"Anything else McNab?" The officer looked at his superior and Carlton could see the embarrassment staining his cheeks. "What is it McNab?"

"You have lipstick on you." Carlton turned to Grace who was smiling. "Pearl pink looks good on you." She wet a thumb and started scrubbing at his lips. "You look good in pink, Detective." She turned her attention to Officer McNab you can go now." The man turned heel and started to looked like he was going to run. "And _McNab_." He froze. "You saw nothing,_ understand_?"

Although they couldn't see it they heard Buzz swallow deeply out of fear. "Yes ma'am." He quickly made his way to the stairs that led into the precinct.

"So do you have a reason for mauling me in the parking lot?"

Carlton smiled at her question and quirked an eyebrow. "Couldn't help myself?"

It was Grace's turn to smile. "Yeah you're not one to beat around the bush." She smoothed his suit a bit and made sure his tie was straight, while he made sure her lipstick wasn't_ too_smeared. "Presentable?"

Carlton gave a thumbs up and placed a hand on her lower back to lead her back into the station. "Can I see that file?"

Grace handed it over to him. "That has everything the F.B.I has on the murders."

"The Casanova killings?" He flipped through the file and was shocked at how quickly this man had gone through six coastal towns and thirty-two women before he decided to come to his city.

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Juliet paced outside the overtime room and the only reason she was outside was because three people weren't allowing her in. "You know I have a gun, right?" She sneered at the beefy man who was currently guarding the door.

"I know." His face remained calm at her anger, in fact he scratched his nose  
and took out his cell to check his emails.

"Agent Turner, I'm warning you."

"That's not going to work on him, Juliet, he has three teenage daughters and has been married going on twenty-five years." Grace walked from behind Juliet to Matt's side where she nudged his arm with her shoulder. "He isn't afraid of anything." Grace smiled at Juliet. "But I do have a question. Why isn't Detective O'Hara allowed in with her fiancé?" Juliet raised her eyebrows in shock to which Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Saw the ring, it gorgeous by the way. Now Matt answer my question,please."

Matt looked back and forth between the two women. "Because she's pregnant?"

Grace nodded at him like he was a five year old. "Yes, she is, _and_?"

"He's sick." Matt was starting to look uncomfortable under Grace's gaze.

"And?"

"We don't want her to get sick?" Matt rubbed at the back of his neck.  
Grace pursed her lips. "You do realize she lives with him and probably already has the virus but hasn't gotten sick yet, right?"

"Oh, didn't think of that."

"Me either." Juliet suddenly felt uncomfortable and worried. "What if I do get sick?"

Grace smiled at her. "You wouldn't be the first pregnant woman to get the stomach flu, nor the last. You two will be fine." She turned toward Matt. "Let the poor woman through she wants to be with Shawn."

Matt nodded and stepped aside much to Juliet's amusement. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything Agent Turner."

"I'm the only exception."

Juliet raised an eyebrow at Matt. "You never had to do requals with her." That was the only explanation Juliet was going to get because his phone rang and he walked away to take the call.

"There you go." Grace went to walk away but Juliet stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. Grace looked down at the hand and then into Juliet's eyes.

"Ummmmm. You look angry."

Juliet was angry. "I have a question."

"_Ok?"_

"Why did you take care of Shawn earlier?"

Grace was confused. "Because he's sick, should I have let him vomit in the floor?"

Juliet huffed. "No, it's just that he's my fiancé and I'm supposed to take care of him and you…" Juliet threw her hands up in frustration. "I want to take care of him but you did and you have this history and…..and." She sighed

Grace held her hands up in a placating manner. "_Whoa whoa whoa _wait a minute." She leveled her sight on Juliet. "Are you worried about my relationship with Shawn_?"_

Juliet squeezed her eyes shut. "It's just that you were his first _everything."_

"Well not _everything_, but I understand what you're saying." Grace hummed.  
"Juliet, look at me." She did. "Before we were ever _together_we were in the academy and then partners. I picked up on his cues, not that I'm saying you didn't, but I was just quicker."

"Excuse me?" Juliet felt her anger bubbling further up.

"I meant physically." Grace sighed. "I've gone about this wrong." She pointed at Carlton who was reading over the file she handed him. "You've been his partner for going on seven years, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok and I'm pretty sure you figured out where he's been for the past week." Juliet couldn't help the knowing smile that crossed her lips.

"So I see him reading that file and I see anger. What do you see?"

Juliet looked at her partner just for a few seconds. "Well he is angry but there is something else."

"Which is?"

"He's hungry." She looked at her watch. "And for a good reason too, it's past lunch and I've only seen him have coffee." She studied him for a second more. "He's really tired also, his eyes are giving that away."

"How's that?"

"He keeps looking around without moving his head." Juliet chewed his lip.

"He has trouble paying attention to reports when he's been up for a while."

She turned her attention back to the agent standing near her and saw the shit eating grin on her face. "_What?"_

"Should I be worried about you?"

The blonde's jaw dropped. "What?! No!"

"Are you _sure?"_Grace arched an eyebrow.

She was becoming increasingly flustered. "Yes. I'm. Sure." She huffed. "We have been partners for almost seven years, like _you _said, and when you work that closely with someone then you notice things that others woul….._oh._"

"You understand now?" Juliet nodded. "I'll leave you to your fiancé now." Grace gestured toward the room where Shawn was ensconced and turned toward the bullpen.

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Shawn screwed his eyes shut as his body continued to be wracked with shivers. He absolutely hated being sick and being who he was when he got sick he didn't do it halfway, _no,_he usually got sick enough to have a nice hospital stay complete with IV fluids and enough meds to take down a rhino. "Th-this sucks." He pulled the old scratchy blanket tighter around him.

"Open your mouth, Shawn." He did and Gus shoved a thermometer under his tongue. "Now close it." For some reason when sick, Shawn also followed commands so his lips wrapped around the mercury filled instrument.

"How do they expect him to investigate when he's like this?"

Gus grabbed the thermometer that Shawn had taken out of his mouth to talk and read it. "One oh three Shawn. You need to be at the hospital or home, not here."

"I've worked in worse shape."

"Well that was before you had me taking care of you." The three men directed their attention toward the new voice in the room.

"Jules you need to stay away." Shawn slipped a hand out of his cocoon and pointed at himself. "Sick, remember?" Then he pointed at her. "And you're pregnant, I don't want you to get sick."

"I'll risk it." Juliet went to the cot he was occupying and sat down next to him, despite Gus and Henry's protesting looks. "Besides I'm probably going to get sick anyways." She reached out and ran her fingers through his sweat dampened hair. "Can you guys get him some medicine and Gatorade before he gets worse?" She gave the hovering men a poignant glare to signify their need to leave and follow her instructions. Gus was hot on Henry's heels as they left mumbling about dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

"Jules, you really shouldn't be here." Shawn shivered harder prompting Juliet to grab another blanket from a nearby cot and add it to the one already around him. "Th-thanks." Shawn closed his eyes and put his head on her shoulder sighing as he instantly started to feel better.

"Feel better?" She continued to comb her fingers through his hair and smiled as she felt him relax further and his shaking ebb. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You are my drug Juliet O'Hara."

Henry walked in rattling a bottle of pills and holding a Gatorade. "So I guess you don't want these." Juliet reached her hands out and took the proffered objects. "Gus gave some of his samples and Buzz ran to the nearest convenience store for the Gatorade. "

"Good ole' Nabby." Shawn opened his eyes to half mast and eyed the pills Juliet thrust at him. "In case you haven't noticed I couldn't keep down water."

"Take the pills Shawn." He reached out from the warmth and hovered his hand over the tablets, a look of confusion scrunched up his features. "What's wrong?"

"Which one keeps me in the Matrix and which one wakes me up from this nightmare?" Juliet snorted. "Well it's supposed to be the red one that wakes you up and the blue one keeps you under, but both of these are white."

Henry arched an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna even ask." And with that he spun and left.

"Old man will never understand me." Shawn swallowed the pills and chased them with the cool liquid.

"You need to drink more Shawn, you've been throwing up too much." She tried to make him take a few more swallows but he shook his head

"Jules my stomach is already flipping from what little I had, if you want those pills to stay put please don't force any more on me." The pleading in his tone made her give up the pursuit of force feeding him the replenishing liquid.

"Lie down." She stood and helped guide him to laying on his side. "I'm going to see what everyone is up to, you ok here by yourself?" A soft puff-like snore was her answer. "Get some sleep." She stooped and kissed his nose, the only thing peaking out from the self imposed enshroudment.

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"So all that is known currently is Casanova is that he is a male, caucasian and doesn't have qualms about leaving DNA." Juliet kept listening to Turner's presentation but her vision kept drifting over to her partner and Grace. She smirked when she caught them for the third time almost holding hands and grinning like idiots. "One of our agents profiled him and seems to believe that he is searching for a 'Miss Right' before some important date which is why his activity has picked up. Lucky for us with his increase means he is getting sloppy, one of your own found a partial thumb print on Mary Sheen. Our lab in LA is currently analyzing the oil that the print was found in and as soon as they get the results they are going to share it with us." Matt sighed and pointed at Grace who reluctantly broke her almost contact with Carlton. "Many of you know my partner, Special Agent Grace North, she is the agent who led the investigation in D.C and has a more _intimate_relationship with cases like this."

Juliet watched Carlton stiffen during Matt's statement, his body language read anger and Juliet could see his jaw ticking from across the room but he relaxed quickly when Grace flashed him a smile from her spot next to Matt. "Every officer here has been granted permission to see parts of the files the FBI has on Casanova and his previous victims, only a select few will be allowed almost full access to these files." Grace gave a loud sigh. "Granting this access comes with the assumption that everyone here is not only going to cooperate but communicate with one another including Agent Turner and myself."

"_Yes mom."_Several surrounding officers snickered at the rookie's joke. Grace shot them a smug grin.

"Chief Vick?"

The blonde stood up fully. "Yes, Agent North?"

"That officer." She pointed at the rookie that was starting to turn red from embarrassment. "And..." She counted all the uniforms that had laughed. "His five friends are not allowed on this case, since they think the murdering of thirty-four women is a laughable offense." A few jaws dropped and more than one person roughly nudged the rookie. "In fact, I think they'll be perfect for coffee duty. I like mine extra hot, black and strong enough to strip paint off a car." When the officers did not move, Grace raised her eyebrow. "I don't think I stuttered did I?" Several heads shook in the negative. "Well get to it, and don't forget to take everyone's order."

When the group looked at Karen for some kind of answer that would favor them, she crossed her arms in anger and glared at them. "Unlike the last time Agent North was here she has the ability to pull and place officers as she deems necessary. She even has superiority over me, so I suggest _everyone_follow her simple rules."

"Thank you Chief." Grace nodded toward her and smiled as several officers were writing their orders on post-its and passing them to the now very meek looking group of jokesters. "Be back in a half hour boys." There was some grumbling from as they passed her but not one dared to look her in the eyes or say it loud enough for anyone to hear. Grace flashed a smile as the door to the precinct slammed shut as the angry officers left.

Karen stood and clapped her hands twice to get everyone's attention. "This case is first priority people. This _Casanova character_ is in our town and killing young women who deserve a future that they didn't get, _won't get_." She eyed the two agents who were talking amongst themselves. "And if you are unable to contact Agent North or Turner you are to speak with the resident FBI liaison, Mr. Spencer." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to fend off the encroaching headache. It had been less than an hour and six of her officers already made the SBPD look like a complete joke in front of a veteran agent of almost thirty years and the agent that had single handedly survived being in the hands of serial killer, _twice._"Get to work people every second we waste is another second a murderer is on our streets." The grouped up officers broke off, went to their desks, and set about accessing the files.

Karen watched Grace made a round through the bullpen grabbing a few uniformed officers, her head detective, his partner, and Henry. Gus followed the group, although he wasn't one of the picked, but Grace didn't voice any objections. "We are going to conference room one." She shooed them away with a dismissive wave but as Carlton turned to leave she grabbed his arm and yanked him around. "Chief Vick."

"Yes, Agent North?" Karen stopped in front of the woman and noticed the contact between her and Carlton. It took some doing but she was able to suppress the grin that threatened to overtake her mouth. "Is there a problem?"

Grace rocked her head from side to side and quirked her mouth. "Yes and no." Karen arched an eyebrow. "Well no there isn't because I think everyone learned their lesson, thanks for that." Grace nodded and the blonde smiled.

"It's really no problem, those officers were way outta line." She made a mental note to reprimand the men as soon as they came back from their coffee run.

"Well it's good to have a local PD to actually back us up instead of compete with us." Grace shifted nervously. "But here's the catch, Carlton here has been up since midnight in DC so that's since three here." Grace checked her watch. "That is almost twelve hours, four of those spent on a plane. Now I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to tell you how to do your job but right now two of your best investigators are unable to be in the field, for obvious reasons, and I don't want Detective Lassiter to be the third." Karen nodded in agreement. "I think he should go home while Agent Turner and I confer with the officers I chose in the conference room." Carlton swallowed deeply when Grace's voice lowered an octave. "I'll _debrief_him later." He failed to stop the sputter or his ears turning red at the double entendre.

Karen's allowed the smile to plaster itself on her face this time only to avoid the full on laugh that wanted to spill out. As she fought with her body's need to laugh, she studied her head detective and saw how exhausted he truly was. There were deep circles under his eyes, his hands shook from caffeine overload, and he looked like he was ready to pass out. "I believe you're right Agent North." Grace smiled at Carlton and turned to leave. "But on one condition," The agent froze. "You drive him, he's dangerously overtired and I don't want to put him behind the wheel of a two thousand pound machine." Grace's smile grew as Carlton's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "And while I said you are in charge, I hope this is one time you'll listen to me."

"Yes it is Chief Vick, thank you." Grace snatched her keys out of her suit pocket, linked arms with Carlton, and nearly dragged him out of the precinct.

" You do realize I can speak for myself, right?" Grace's answer was silence. "I'm not some kid that needs looked after," He let out a frustrated sigh at her continued silence. "I'm not that tired anyways." Carlton continued the under his breath grumbling as Grace made him get into the passenger seat of her rental. "Are you going to answer me or give me the silent treatment the whole ride?"

"Haven't decided." She turned over the ignition on the SUV but made no motions to move. "Are you going to keep whining?" She craned her neck to get a good look at the man in the passenger side and smiled. Despite the complaints and his repeated complaints of not being tired he was sure getting up close and personal with the passenger side leather seat. "Comfy?"

"Is this thing heated?" Carlton bounced on the seat a little. "I know it's not terribly warm outside but heated seats?"

"I can turn them off, if you like." Carlton sighed and snuggled into the chair closing his eyes as he did. "I'll take that as a no." She pulled out of the SBPD parking lot smiling when Carlton let out a light snore.

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Carlton's full intention was to finish getting some sleep when he got home. _So much for that._Grace gave a throaty giggle as his hands slipped around her petite waist. "You're supposed to be taking a nap."

"Had one in the car." He dipped his head down till his mouth was making contact with her collar bone, which he nibbled on eliciting another giggle. His amazement with this woman was never going to dull and age as it had with several others. "Grace North, you're going to be the death of me."

"You'd better believe it." With enough force to break the embrace she turned to the front door of his condo. "Let's at least get inside before I start my systematic destruction of you." She held out her hand with the assumption that Carlton was going to give his keys to her.

"Earn them." A wolfish grin took up most of his features as he dangled the keys over her head. Grace raised an eyebrow and that was the only movement she made before she pounced throwing him against the wall opposite the door of his condo. It didn't hurt but he was caught so off guard by her body pressed against his that he dropped the metal in his hand.

A calm almost serene look crossed her face. "That was easy." She backed up one step, bent over and picked up the discarded objects. She faced him the whole time as she slowly backed up till her back hit wood. Carlton watched in fascination as her eyes never left his while she fingered his keys. "_Hmmmm..._car keys... a bank lock box key? Wonder what the great Carlton Lassiter deemed too precious for his fortress here." Her tongue stuck out between her lips as she continued to identify the pieces of grooved metal. "Well the ones on this ring are numerous so I am assuming work keys, how the Chief allowed you to copy the evidence room key is beyond me."

Carlton licked his lips as he watched her movements. "She grew tired of me always having possession of the one from the front desk." He shrugged at Grace's snort. "Workaholic."

She hummed in agreement. "Ah! This is definitely the one," She separated the only key of the many that Carlton had purposely looped on the ring so that teeth were facing the opposite direction. "Too easy." With her fingers as her only guide she fed the notched metal into the lock on the condo's door. Carlton tensed as she turned it to the unlocked position and eased the door open. As soon as the gap was larger than three inches he set about to the return attack. He slammed into her and grabbed her close their lips meeting in a harsh kiss as the momentum caused the door to slam open and the couple to stumble across the threshold. Carlton's momentary win was short lived as Grace simultaneously spun them around and hooked her foot around the back of his ankle and pushed, causing him to fall not so gracefully onto the floor of his living room.

"Dammit woman." Grace smirked as Carlton tried to glare at her and failed miserably. "You could've hurt me."

Grace wrinkled her nose in amusement. "Doubt it." She tapped the door roughly with her foot and her smile grew predatory as it closed. "Now _where_were we? Oh yeah!" The raven haired woman jumped on top of Carlton, her legs straddling his hips. "We were about right here." She leaned over, kissed his nose and trailed a line of almost feather light kisses down his jaw. Once their lips met the fire was ignited and Carlton took his opportunity to one up this woman yet again. He deepened the kiss, held her closer, and shifted his hips to flip her on her back so that he was straddling her.

"I win." His voice filled with childlike amusement.

"That may very well be but I think you'll be begging for mercy before I'm done with you." Carlton sighed in contentment as their lips collided again, he knew that he wasn't going to finish his nap or get any sleep for that matter but he could care less. Grace gasped for air at the kiss broke. "God did I miss you."

"Missed you too." He smiled broadly as she flushed pink and started unbuttoning his shirt, her tongue between her teeth in concentration and her nose wrinkled. He closed his eyes and memorized every detail from her features to her warm feather light touch. _And I love you._But instead of saying those three words he decided to show her.

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"What did I tell you boy? You are twenty nine, you don't have time to be playing around." He sighed and paced as his mother ranted and raved at him about finding the perfect woman to give her grandchildren. "And if you don't find someone soon then they ain't gonna want you. You want to be trash that women flick to the gutter, _boy!?"_

"No." He clenched his jaw and gritted out the word harshly. "I don't want to be garbage." His mama's features slackened and she smiled.

"I'm sorry but I just want you to be happy, don't you want to be happy?" He nodded and smiled back at her. "I want to be as well." He arched an eyebrow as her tone turned sinister. "Get ready for the night boy and pick your mama out a winner."

He grinned from ear to ear and started to set about getting ready for his nightly duty of going to clubs and picking out the perfect mate to make his mama proud. As he showered he sung his mama's favorite song, smiling broadly when he heard his mama join in at the chorus. God did his mama sing like an angel, he thought it was almost unfair that the elderly couple next door got to hear it for free.

"Catherine that neighbor boy is singing again." William looked up at his wife who just joined him in bed.

"Is he just singing the one side of the chorus again?" She smirked as her husband squinted his eyes and listened.

"Sounds like it. I wonder why he doesn't sing both parts since he's all by himself, boy has a voice of an angel."

Catherine splayed her fingers on her husband's chest and kissed his lips. "Maybe he's just waiting for the perfect woman to fill in the blanks." William leaned over, turned out the nightstand light, and turned in for the night.


End file.
